A West Coast IPA that features Amarillo and Simcoe hops "in harmony," giving a light, floral aroma. Duet is nicely bitter with the perfect amount of malt concealed behind the hoppy goodness. Immensely drinkable, amazingly light on its feet.

Bottle picked up by my buddy ArthurPendragon. Consumed on 10/11/2009 and poured into a snifter. The beer appears a transparent and vibrant golden with a one finger fizzy white head. Retention and lacing are both decent.

The nose is of orange, grapefruit, and a little pine. The floral hop presence is strong, and the malt is light and crackery.

The flavor opens up with pine and bitter grapefruit. It's quite resiny, and the malt provides a crackery foundation. It makes its presence known without imparting any real sweetness. Bitterness is at an upper medium level. The finish is dry, light, and crisp, with lingering pine/grapefruit bitterness.

Upper light bodied with a dry and sticky mouthfeel. As I noted with the bottle of Nelson that I tried earlier tonight, carbonation could be kicked up a notch. It's at a pretty low level for an IPA and not as carbonated as the draft incarnation. Great stuff. A light and flavorful IPA, though I definitely prefer the draft version to this bottled batch.

22oz bottle obtained in a a shipment from South bay Drugs poured into my Southern Tier tulip glass.

Pours a dark amber with a nice foamy white head. Very nice lacing as I drank this beer.

Aroma has some citrus and bitterness but the sweet malt is very present in the nose as well.

The taste is surprising in that I'm getting less of the in your face grapefruit and bitterness I expected from a west coast IPA. I'm getting a little citrus and a decent amount of bitterness but more of a fruit, maybe some cherry and apple flavors going on. More sweetness then I expected as well.

Overall this was an OK beer, not my top west coast IPA but good and different. I drank a High Tide Fresh hop IPA before this and that one was in my opinion much better and I would order that one again easily over this one. The hops in this one just didn't compare. Knowing South Bay didn't get these in too long ago I can't imagine it was an old bottle, but it almost tasted like it.

22oz bottle received via Growling at the Moon. Thanks for the brew, Justin!

Poured into a imperial pint glass, formed a 1/4" off-white head over the clear golden brew. Head slowly fizzles away, with lasting lace. Aroma is all about the citrus.

Taste is moderate sweetness to start, which is quickly overpowered by citrus hoppiness in the middle, and cruises through the close with pine and ample but not overpowering bitterness. Mouthfeel is smooth, and drinkability is easy. Excellent brew, and shows how we can have plenty of hops character and flavor, yet keep the bitterness under control. Bitter is nice, but bitter for bitter's sake gets old. None of that here.

Appearance - Golden amber color with incredible clarity. 2 finger white head that lasts and lasts. When it finally dies down, the surface is coated with foam that sticks to the side of the glass. It looks perfect.

Smell - Totally overwhelmed by citrus hops. Orange hops with some pine in the background. There's a sweetness that isn't caramel at all. It's a hop sweetness. Mmmm.

Taste - Citrus hops again. Some grapefruit, but mostly orange and some pine. It's the slightest bit sweet, but it doesn't taste like hop sweetness. It's hard to place. The malt just barely comes through as a bit nutty. That's really my only complaint. It could have just a bit more malt backbone, but just a bit! It finishes with a lingering hop bitterness.

Mouthfeel - Medium carbonation makes it feel a bit creamy. It could use a bit more body, but that follows along with my complaint about the malt. Just a bit more and this would be a perfect IPA.

Overall - It's fantastic. It's like Hopslam, but a better hop presence and it's not overly alcoholic. If I had my way and there was just a bit more malt to it, it would be about 8% instead of 7%. At 7%, it's so drinkable it's scary. I hope I can get another bottle of this.

M: I'd like a bit more body. It's a slight bit thin, and it lacks the kind of carbonation and texture to really make this portion of the beer a standout.

O: I love Alpine. Literally. Having just visited their brewery outside of San Diego, I can honestly say that it holds a special place in my beer-filled heart. And like all of their beers I've had the pleasure of quaffing, Duet is simply beautiful. This is a one of the best AIPA's around, and something I hope all of you BA's get a chance to encounter firsthand. It's amazing what a few good folks can do with water, grains, hops and yeast.

A: Dark, tarnished orange with a solid one finger beige cream head of solid retention state. Quick paced spacious effervesce fills the vessel. Nice skirt lacing on the way down in the vessel.

S: A wiff of fruitiness, dried apple, spicy sweet floral notes, with a followup of fresh grassiness that was exceptionally smooth and polished with a low to moderate rate of awareness. Sweet and perfumy.

T: Flavor was sweetly, lightly dry toasted french bread, sweet floral hops, and lightly toasted apple skin and cinnamon spicing. Spicy floral hop finish. Hints of grassy-pine adds just the right amount of accent while still maintaining a excellent sense of balance with the other components.

O: Overall an exceptionally clean and polished drinking experience with an strong harmony and balance of malts and hops that makes this highly drinkable, and a flavorful beer. Crisply brewed, great drinkability, great hopping that isn't your typical west coast variety, but a beautifully orchestrated collection of spicy hop florals and fruit that begs for more drinking. Checking out their other examples it seems Alpine is no slouch in the IPA department and seems to be hitting it out of the park with nearly every example. Can't wait to try them all. Beutiful balance and example of a cleanly brewed beer that showcases what true craftsmenship is all about.

A - Poured a medium yellow with some abmer throughout and and half finger of white head.

S - A sharp bitterness up front with pronounced grapefruit, tangerine and mango notes along with some pine. Malt sweetness is barely detectable. Definitely a west coast IPA. A very robust and inviting nose.

T - Strong flavours of grapefruit, orange rind, mango and pine. Not much sweetness at all. Very bitter overall but not overwhelmingly so. A fantastic IPA.

Citrus, pine, strong bitterness abounds. Lots of orange, pineapple and grapefruit. Just a touch of sweetness and a subtle underlying maltiness playing a supporting role to the wonderfully fresh hop flavors.

Hazed pale copper. Dusty looking cap of ivory white foam. Lace is quite substantial and intricate. Aroma is tropical, grassy and resiny. Flavor is a lot of citrus. Tangerine, orange, grapefruit, nectarine. Good hop flavor. A little grassiness and some pine resin. Bitterness is very clean. Underneath all the hop character is a solid enough toffeeish malt base. Medium-full bodied and moderately carbonated. This is a flavorful, easy drinker. Great IPA overall.

Great beer, good amber to orange appearance, small head, small lacing. Pungent tropical citrus aroma with some desert pine thrown in.

Taste was excellent, should please any hophead, especially those who like the new hop varieties and big dry hopping. Balanced enough for a hophead (meaning it isn't, but in a good way). Immense hop amount never fades to the end. Yum. $8 a bomber, a little pricey, but otherwise, the drinkability soars.